This time, MMDA offers ‘Edsa Express’ | Inquirer News

This time, MMDA offers ‘Edsa Express’

/ 10:23 PM July 11, 2012

Now comes another proposal to ease the daily traffic jam on the country’s busiest highway.

In a meeting with bus operators Wednesday, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino suggested the designation of another special lane to be called the “Edsa Express.”

This lane will be reserved for bus companies that would agree to merge and form leaner fleets and thus address the oversupply of buses plying the 24-km thoroughfare, he said.

Article continues after this advertisement

“The dedicated lane could be an incentive for bus operators who would agree to merge their fleets,” Tolentino said. “Edsa Express is a possible solution to reduce the number of buses along Edsa that would not be detrimental to their businesses.”

FEATURED STORIES

The Edsa Express could be set up on one of the two lanes now making up the existing “yellow lane” for buses, he explained, adding that a similar scheme had been implemented in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Later in an interview, Tolentino said a number of operators with a combined fleet of 600 buses had welcomed his proposal for them to form mergers.

Article continues after this advertisement

Many of their buses go half-empty for much of the day anyway, he noted. With more consortiums forming in the future, the volume of bus traffic on Edsa could significantly go down, he said.

Article continues after this advertisement

At least 50 bus operators met with the MMDA chief Wednesday in Makati City to give their feedback on the revived yellow lane policy, which caused heavy congestion on Edsa on Monday.

Article continues after this advertisement

Among their appeals was for the MMDA to allow buses to use “a third lane” or let provincial buses go outside the yellow lane during heavy traffic.

But Tolentino said arbitrarily changing the policy now would only cause more confusion. The yellow lanes were introduced in 1989 in a resolution approved by Metro Manila mayors.

Article continues after this advertisement

Since last month, Tolentino has been pushing for the merger of small bus companies into consortiums to make them more viable and competitive against bigger operators while reducing the number of buses on Edsa.

According to him, about 12,000 city and provincial buses now ply Edsa daily and yet the yellow lanes, when conceived, were only intended for 1,600 buses.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

TAGS: Metro, Metro Manila, News

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.